An Easy Pocket Page Scrapbooking Layout for Beginners to Paper Crafting

Update 11-2-2023: When I originally made the video for this project and shared this blog post, I was waiting for some of my photos to put in the photo pockets for the left-hand side of the spread. I didn’t have the entire two-page layout ready to show you at that time. However, I just finished the left-hand side of the page, so I’m updating this post to show you how both pages look together. The video only covers the right-hand side of the page, but as you can see, the left-hand side is easy; it’s mostly photos in the photo pockets with just a little bit of extra embellishing.

Free Video Tutorial for How to Create This Sailing Themed 6”x8” Pocket Page Scrapbooking Layout

Type of Project: Paper Crafts Project

Skill Level: Easy Enough for Total Beginners

My husband, Mike, and I sailed from Colonial Beach, Virginia all the way to Ashkelon, Israel in a 10 meter / 34’ sailboat called Viva. I’m making a series of mini scrapbook albums to document the experiences from our journey.

This is a pocket page scrapbooking layout that I created to fit in a 6”x8” page protector made by Scrapbook.com. This configuration features two 3”x4”pockets stacked on top of each other on the right-hand side of the page and one taller 3”x8” pocket on the left-hand side of the page.

On the facing page is another pocket page; the page is mostly made up of photos in pockets, and I didn’t do much embellishing to them. So on this page, I’m going to devote most of the space to journaling blocks so I have space to write about all the photos from both pages.

This layout is a super easy paper crafts project that is reasonably quick to put together. If you want to try making a scrapbooking layout similar to this one, you’ll need a photo, a 6”x8” page protector, a 6”x8” album to put your page in, some adhesive, and whichever pretty papers and embellishments you’d like to use for telling your story.

I used stamps, inks, a die cutter, and dies to use for decorating my pages, but these are not necessities. You might prefer to use stickers, washi tapes or actual memorabilia from your life; I think it’s better to use embellishments from your actual adventures, in cases where you have them, than purchasing ready-made embellishments. You can embellish your pages from meaningful things in your life; use items like concert tickets or theater tickets from an event you attended, bits of confetti from a wedding or party you went to, or bits of dried botanicals saved from a bouquet your sweetheart gave you.

Below, I’ve provided a complete list of supplies I used in case you want to duplicate any of the elements shown on this page; however, there are many other options that would probably be better suited to complement your photos when you document your own life experiences. So please use the supplies that would work best for you.

Craft Supplies You’ll Need for Duplicating This Scrapbooking Layout:

Full Disclosure: Some (but not all!!) of the products I used to make this layout were provided to me for free by Graphic 45, Pinkfresh Studio and Scrapbook.com. I love all 3 of these companies’ products and typically pay the usual asking price for them; I am not recommending them because I got them for free, but because they are absolutely perfect for my projects and because I really, truly, wholeheartedly love them!!

Also, please be aware that the links I’ve used in this post are affiliate links. What that means: I will make a small commission, at no additional cost to you, if you click through these links and make a purchase. My heartfelt thanks to the many readers who support this blog with your purchases! I am truly grateful!

• 6”x8” Pocket Page Protectors: I used a pocket page protector from Scrapbook.com.





• Cardstock: I used a small piece of cardstock cut to 2.5”x 3.5” from the “Warms” 3.5” x 8.5” cardstock pad by Scrapbook.com. You’ll also need scraps of white or solid-colored cardstock for stamping on.





• Patterned Papers: I used patterned papers from two different collections by Graphic 45. I used the “Sail Away” and “Turtle Time” patterned papers from Graphic 45’s Sun Kissed 8”x8” Collector’s Edition Pack and the navy blue-colored patterned paper from Graphic 45’s “Make a Splash” 12×12 Patterns and Solids Paper Pack.





• Ordinary Lined Paper: I grabbed an unused piece of lined note paper from an old planner; you can use any paper with grids or lines that would work for the journaling you have in mind for your page.





• Packaged Die Cuts: The shell, sand dollar and starfish die cuts on my 3″x8″ journaling block are from Graphic 45’s “Make a Splash” Die Cut Ephemera Assortment.





• Dies: Mini Slimline Stitched Scalloped Rectangles Die Set by Pinkfresh Studio and Echo Park Happy Day Labels Dies; You’ll also need either the dies that go with your label stamp set or a pair of decorative scissors to use for cutting out your label image. I used Fiskars Paper Edgers in the “Mini Scallop” design.





• Stickers: Graphic 45’s “Make a Splash” Cardstock Stickers and The Simple Vintage Seas Sticker Book by Simple Stories





• Stamps: Dot Labels Stamp Set by Altenew; Magical Memories Outlines Stamp Set by Altenew; Journal Card Builder Stamp Set by Altenew (Discontinued); and the Believe in Yourself Stamp Set by Pinkfresh Studio (Discontinued)





• Ink Pads: I used Tim Holtz’s Carved Pumpkin Distress Oxide Ink; Tim Holtz’s Weathered Wood Distress Ink; Tim Holtz’s Chipped Sapphire Distress Oxide Ink; Brilliance Pearlescent Sky Blue Ink; and Altenew’s Sapphire Mixed Media Ink. There are many other ink colors besides these that will work for this project, so if you have any that will work, it’s fantastic to just use what you already have.





• Adhesive: You’ll Need a paper-friendly adhesive. I used a refillable adhesive roller from Scrapbook.com, but there are many other adhesives that would work well for this purpose. If you’d like to check out additional recommendations, please see this page about the best adhesives for paper crafts.

Put a Photo in the Upper Right-Hand Page Protector:

This pocket page layout features a picture of me that Mike took of me standing on the deck of our boat with the sails down. I put this picture in the upper right-hand pocket of the page. Easy peasy! But you can embellish your photo if you like; sometimes if I have a photo with lots of “dead space” in it, I’ll adhere a stamped embellishment, a sticker or a group of enamel dots onto it to dress it up a bit. In this case, I just put the plain picture into the pocket protector and called it good.

How to Make the 3″x4″ Journaling Block to Put in the Lower 3″x4″ Pocket:

In the lower right-hand pocket, I made a layered journaling block. Follow these steps to make a similar journaling block for your own layout:

• Make the Lower Layer: Cut a piece of patterned paper to 3″x4″ and ink around the edges with a coordinating ink color. I used the “Sail Away” paper from Graphic 45’s 8″x8″ “Sun Kissed” Collector Edition pad, but you can use any patterned paper you like.





• Make the Middle Layer: Cut a piece of solid-colored cardstock to 2.5″ x 3.5″ and ink around the edges with a coordinating color. I used a piece of cardstock from the “Warms” collection by Scrapbook.com and “Carved Pumpkin” Distress Oxide ink by Tim Holtz for Ranger Industries.





• Make the Upper Layer: Stamp a journaling block image and a sentiment together onto the same piece of white cardstock using a dark color of ink. I used Altenew’s Sapphire ink for this (not pictured). The stamps I used are Altenew’s Journal Card Builder stamp set (now discontinued) and Altenew’s Magical Memories Outlines Stamp Set. Die cut the stamped cardstock into an interesting shaped journaling block. I used one of the label dies from Echo Park’s Happy Day Labels Die Set, but there are many other dies that could work for this.
  
  
  You can add emphasis around the edges of the die-cut shape by drawing around the edge with a marker; however, I recommend doing this with a marker that is getting dried out and close to the end of its life, because this technique can wreak havoc on your markers. You don’t want to wreck a brand new, expensive marker by doing this.

Tape the 3 layers together, complete your journaling, and add the journaling block to your page protector.

How to Make the 3″x8″ Journaling Block:

To fill the pocket that extends down the entire left-hand side of the page, I made a separate layered journaling block using the “Turtle Time” patterned paper from Graphic 45’s Sun Kissed 8”x8” Collector’s Edition Pack, plus a die-cut frame, die cut ephemera, stamped images and stickers.

Follow these steps to make a similar journaling block:

• Cut your background paper to 3″x8″.
• Ink around the edges of your background paper and set it aside until the ink is thoroughly dry.
• Attach a border sticker close to the upper edge of the background paper. I used a cardstock sticker from Graphic 45’s “Make a Splash” collection, but there are many outstanding border stickers or similar embellishments like washi tape that you could use for this.
• Make two die cut pieces using Pinkfresh Studio’s Mini Slimline Stitched Scalloped Rectangles: You’ll make the inner piece using ordinary lined paper and the frame piece using the Graphic 45 “Make a Splash” navy blue paper, or the papers of your choice. Attach them at an angle to the background paper using paper-friendly adhesive.
• Stick a sticker at the lower edge of the framed journaling block. I used a sticker that says “Sail Away” from the Simple Vintage Seas sticker book by Simple Stories.
• Stamp a sentiment, cut it out and attach it near the top of your journaling block. I stamped “Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway” on white cardstock using Weathered Wood Distress Ink.
• Stamp an oval label using “Carved Pumpkin” Distress Oxide. Allow it to dry.
• Stamp a sentiment using “Pearlescent Sky Blue” Brilliance ink onto the stamped oval label image. Allow it to dry.
• Cut out the stamped oval label image using your decorative scissors or the die that corresponds to your oval label stamp.
• Attach your stamped sentiments and die-cut embellishments to your background paper, layering them over each other and over the other elements on the paper.
• Complete your journaling and put the finished journaling block in its pocket.

Finishing Touches for This Pocket Page Scrapbooking Layout

I have a love/hate relationship with pocket page scrapbooking. I really love the ease and simplicity of this approach to scrapbooking, but there are a couple of things about it that drive me bonkers. First, I hate it that you can see the page beneath the one you’re looking at through the seams of the pockets. And second, I sometimes get annoyed at the rigidity of the grid-style layouts.

There’s a simple solution for both of these annoyances: Don’t feel limited to sticking your page elements inside the pockets. You can embellish outside the pockets, too. Once I figured this out, I started to enjoy pocket page scrapbooking a LOT more.

On this page, after all three of my pockets were filled, I stuck a sticker strip in between the two 3″x4″ pockets.

I didn’t stick any stickers overtop of that other gap between page elements because I still have to make a layout for the other side of this page protector, and I will need to use the opening to add stuff to the other side. The jury is out on whether I will stick more stickers overtop of this opening or leave well enough alone. We’ll see how it goes!

So go ahead and stick some extra stickers on the outsides of your pockets if you want to (or not). Just don’t block the opening to the other side if you want to have a layout on the back of your page.

Voila! Your pocket page scrapbooking layout is now complete. I hope you’ll enjoy adding it to your scrapbook and reliving your memories as you look at it.

Thanks so much for taking a look at my project. I hope you enjoyed it, and I appreciate your interest!

Find More Sailing and Travel Themed Scrapbooking Projects:

Posted By: Amy Solovay

This page was last updated on 11-2-2023.